Quoting DAL767400ER (Thread starter):These are three former EAS markets that used to be served by Regions Air with service to STL till that carrier went bust. But didn't the DOT award these cities to Big Sky months ago?

That's correct, they did award these back during the summer. I guess this press release is mainly intended to give a formal start date for service, and provide the schedule.

Maybe because you (like I did) thought that this was a DL mainline announcement...instead its just old news with really small aircraft that could fly into Lunken (LUK) Airport in Cincy if they want...ho hum indeed.

It's good to see they finally have announced the routes and they are going to be implemented. The sucky thing for the passengers as it is only 1 aircraft doing the flights. If there is a delay at any point of the day, there is no recovery. Hopefully we'll see Big Sky add additional cities to help boost the amount of aircraft and crews based in CVG.

Quoting Flyinryan99 (Reply 4):It's good to see they finally have announced the routes and they are going to be implemented. The sucky thing for the passengers as it is only 1 aircraft doing the flights. If there is a delay at any point of the day, there is no recovery. Hopefully we'll see Big Sky add additional cities to help boost the amount of aircraft and crews based in CVG.

I wouldn't count on GQ doing too much to bolster the number of aircraft in CVG. They LOVE to spread their aircraft as thin as possible. On most days it works okay, but as you say, when one little thing goes wrong, it wreaks havoc on everything. I've been in HQ in Billings before on a bad day, and it was amazing to say the least, to see the problems that this system creates.

Jackson is about an hour southwest of Memphis. Would Jackson be any more advantageous than Memphis? Is it really that cost effective for an airline to set up shop for a flight or 2 so close to a larger city? Memphis has around 1.5 million inhabitants or more. Jackson? Where there is money to be made...

Quoting SQ452 (Reply 3):Maybe because you (like I did) thought that this was a DL mainline announcement...instead its just old news with really small aircraft that could fly into Lunken (LUK) Airport in Cincy if they want...ho hum indeed.

Are you kidding? You could charter that Island Air cherokee that flies those discreet "flights of fancy" out of LUK and it still be cheaper, faster and more comfortable. YAWN!

Quoting Skibum9 (Reply 11):why the heck does OWB need air service? It is only 25 miles from EVV which has plenty of air service. What a waste of taxpayer money!!!

It HAS NO air service. Do some research on it and you would see that. And it is about 50 miles to EVV which is a source on contention with OWB travellers for the most part..

In a poll back earlier this year conducted by the Owensboro Messenger Inquirer (their daily newspaper), more travellers in OWB wanted n/s service to BNA than anywhere else. CVG wasn't even on their radar, that's the joy of EAS flights! WOO HOO! Even with the knowledge that WN was a dominant player here, they still wanted the service. This is just governement force feeding people into a hub that is grossly overpriced to fly out of. At least that's my opinion.

FWIW, most people from OWB travel to SDF or (maybe less likely) BNA for their flights anyway. It's just cheaper for them to do so than to hop on a puddle hopper in EVV and then connect in the hubs. EVV would seem to me to be rather expensive to fly out of given the little competition is has. Just my

I OBVIOUSLY stated that! My point is, why does it even deserve service? It ONLY has a population of 54,000. Why should American taxpayers fund flights to such a small population when all they have to do is get their lazy behinds in a car and drive for an hour or so. It is one thing for EAS to be used in states like Wyoming and Montana, but when it is used in a state like Kentucky where you have a number of options, it is a waste. Just because you are too dang lazy to drive an hour or so, it does not mean that you are entitled to have flights at your closest airport. Wake up...people in large cities, like Cincinnati or Washington D.C. regularly drive an hour or so to catch a flight. CVG to DAY, IAD and DCA to BWI. What do you want next, a runway paved in your backyard so the taxpayers can fund a private flight. What a waste of taxpayer money.

Quoting Lexy (Reply 13):In a poll back earlier this year conducted by the Owensboro Messenger Inquirer (their daily newspaper), more travellers in OWB wanted n/s service to BNA than anywhere else. CVG wasn't even on their radar, that's the joy of EAS flights!

It's sad they can't use Lunken more than CVG... Prices are horrific at CVG and passagers have almost no other option except driving to Dayton, Columbus, Indy, Louisville, or Lexington. Lunken has room to expand too. I wish another airline would look into that.

Quoting Skibum9 (Reply 15):That's the waste of taxpayer money. Get in your car and drive.

It wasn't a waste when AA had a hub at BNA. OWB had two or three flights a day on them to BNA and they filled up! So what's up with that? EItherway, if you hate it so bad, write your Congressman and tell him or her about it. But in any case it's not about "deserving" a flight. It's about having the demand for one and providing it with the help of government subsidies. In the case of OWB, I see nothing wrong with it and there's little you can do to prove they don't "deserve" it. If they can support the flight with help from the government and people actually use it, what's your beef?? You keep saying it's a waste, have you ever thought about all the other stuff the government "waste" money on?

Quoting Lexy (Reply 19):If they can support the flight with help from the government and people actually use it, what's your beef??

What's my beef. It is simple abuse of the U.S. taxpayers. The demand you speak of is artifically generated by the U.S. taxpayers. You take away that subsidy, which reduces the fare, and that demand decreases because people would have to pay a fare that actually supports running that route. So where does it stop. Maybe we should use the EAS to set up flights in Bowling Green Kentucky, and every small city of 50,000 in the country, regardless that they are within a CONVENIENT drive to another airport in a larger city. Air travel is not an entitlement that should be funded by taxpayers. If OWB feels it deserves air service then let the local taxpayers fund it.

Yes I agree that the government wastes money on many things, this being one of them. Why should you advocate continual waste?

Quoting Skibum9 (Reply 14):That's the waste of taxpayer money. Get in your car and drive.

Well since you live in a city like CVG your opinion on this matter of outlying communities with propsed service into "your" hub city has little merit.

Not everyone should have to simply drive to a bigger city when an adequate and quite capable local airport that has supported an airline previously should be overlooked simply because people like yourself "think" its a waste of tax payers money to pay a little incentive money to get the ball rolling....I can think of plenty of other wastes of our tax payer money that goes unchallenged. So why are you so down on the EAS Subsidy? Maybe you should try living in a small community like CGI or OWB or MKL and get in your own car and drive 50+ miles to catch your flight..The first couple of times you might not mind the drive, however about after the 20th or 30th time I can guarantee that it will become a large pain in your ass not to mention your wallet!!!!!!!...Not only do you have the added expense of driving with gas and tolls, if they apply, you have to start your journey 2-3 times as early to make your flight.

Just for the the record, Jackson, Tn used to have Martin 404 prop and DC9 jet service with Southern Airways. Owensboro used to have Ozark with DC9s and FH-227s. Cape Girardeau used to also have Ozark DC9 and FH-227s. Maybe if these airlines had not pulled their service and stayed and tried to develope these markets further perhaps these communities might have grown sufficiently to never have lost their air service in the first place.
Of course after the local service airlines mentioned above left they did have commuter airlines, but some of them have permenatly lost their service and in the process it has hindered alot of smaller communities from growing by losing that air service.

However, one of the many reasons passenger loads go in the crapper in these types of EAS communities is because the airlines that are awarded the contracts are only given a minimum amount of seats that have to be provided per day or week or however they are monitored. There is no restriction on what the FLIGHT TIMES should be and whether they are well timed to actually connect to other airlines. However, in some other cases, the flights are CRAP and connectability is at the very least, totally impossible. In my honest opinion, if a commuter airline cannot provide an EAS community with fligths that actually benefit the community by proividing flights that actually connect into a hub rather than just satisfying a minimum seat requirement, then the Govt needs to take appropriate action. Is this a bit of re-regulation? Damned straight it is!! Since its Federal Subsidy, and the chosen airline is getting financial support from the Federal Govt, then they should provide adequate and quality service with scheduled times that are going to benefit the community not just the pocket books of the airline collecting the subsidy money!!!!
Once a commuter airline enters an EAS subsidized community, their main goal should be to develope that community to ultimately bring that community to a place whereby the subsidy dollar amount could be reduced or even eliminated. They shouldnt just shlep in and out providing the minimum of flights just to get the Govt to add to their bottum line and prop up their small infra structures. Unfortunately trying to get any commuter airline to put the proper resoruces into their smaller communities is just not in their list of priorities....So the small communities lose....And people like Skibum9 continue to bitch about EAS subsidy!!!!!!!

I think its good that these three communities are getting air service back EAS or no!!!!!!!!

What Delta is doing in CVG is going to turn around and bite them in the ass I think. but it is all supply and demand. Delta has the supply and people are flying. Don't they have something like 80% of the traffic in Cinci? Even if a low-cost moves in (I think it'll happen eventually) the costs at CVG are a bit managable and they'll just lower fares but they won't be moved out.

Quoting Access-Air (Reply 20):Well since you live in a city like CVG your opinion on this matter of outlying communities with propsed service into "your" hub city has little merit.

Obviously you have no idea of what it is like living in a hub city like Cincinnati. You have the OPTION of paying the highest airfares in the country and getting bent over and having every body cavity violated or you have the OPTION to DRIVE at least 50 miles to an another airport like DAY, CMH, LEX, SDF or IND. Just because I live in a hub city, do not assume that I, or many of the people that live here, benefit from it. Many of us, on an every increasing rate drive long distances, much longer than driving from OWB to EVV, to get a reasonable fare.

Quoting Access-Air (Reply 20):Not everyone should have to simply drive to a bigger city when an adequate and quite capable local airport that has supported an airline previously should be overlooked simply because people like yourself "think" its a waste of tax payers money to pay a little incentive money to get the ball rolling....I can think of plenty of other wastes of our tax payer money that goes unchallenged.

Again I ask, why advocate using U.S. taxpayer money to eliminate a CONVENIENT drive? Air Service is NOT an entitlement. Why shouldn't people have to drive, what is the threshold of an acceptable drive distance and population for air service? And again, why should U.S. taxpayers fund it and not the local municipalities that want it. Just because you have a runway that is the right length and a building that can be used as a terminal is not an adequate arguement. With your analogy we should expand EAS and subsidize flights to every airport that has a runway over 6,000 ft.?

Quoting Access-Air (Reply 20):Maybe you should try living in a small community like CGI or OWB or MKL and get in your own car and drive 50+ miles to catch your flight

See my first point. Obviously you are clueless on CVG. Many of us drive 50+ miles weekly to travel. Maybe we should demand a similar program to subsidize our fares and have the U.S. taxpayer fund it.

Quoting Skibum9 (Reply 20):What's my beef. It is simple abuse of the U.S. taxpayers. The demand you speak of is artifically generated by the U.S. taxpayers. You take away that subsidy, which reduces the fare, and that demand decreases because people would have to pay a fare that actually supports running that route. So where does it stop. Maybe we should use the EAS to set up flights in Bowling Green Kentucky, and every small city of 50,000 in the country, regardless that they are within a CONVENIENT drive to another airport in a larger city. Air travel is not an entitlement that should be funded by taxpayers. If OWB feels it deserves air service then let the local taxpayers fund it.

Yes I agree that the government wastes money on many things, this being one of them. Why should you advocate continual waste?

I was going to reply, but what's the use? You have no clue so forget it.

Nashville, Tennessee KBNA

25 Skibum9
: What a typical response for someone that can't substantiate their position! You have failed to address any of the issues that I presented yet you say

26 Access-Air
: Yes, I am clueless on CVG...I dont live in that city, but I am a Travel Agent and have been such for 18 years. So, I understand that the CVG area res

27 Skibum9
: I feel that it is a very realistic and reasonable comparison. As has been stated, and you can verify on Mapquest, Owensboro is only a 40 mile drive t

28 Lexy
: Hey 'Bum, How many times have you driven from OWB to EVV. I doubt very many. I used to live in that part of KY and I know that drive ALL TOO WELL. No,

29 Skibum9
: If you want to make this personal then that really tells me what kind of person you really are. You still have yet to discuss any issues that I raise

30 SkyyMaster
: EAS to some cities is a total waste, and MKL is one of them. Regions Air was averaging 2 pax per flight on it's two flights to STL before it lost the

31 Lexy
: And you have? All you've done is b!tched and moaned because your tax money is helping this community, and others, have a choice. Why don't you take y

32 Skibum9
: And yet again you have failed to answer any of the questions I raised, which are all legitimate. You just sit their and thump your chest. And now you

33 SQ452
: There was a time back in the day that they were thinking of reinforcing the runway at LUK to accomodate 737's so WN could fly there possibly. Problem

34 Nickstyro
: The main problem with Lunken is the same that stopped service in the first place. It sits in a valley so its prone to fog and due to its prox. to the

35 FlyPNS1
: What does this have to do with EAS subsidies? You're using pure emotion and nothing else. The bottomline is that these subsidies are a waste because

36 STLGph
: you're wrong on both counts. Owensboro is about 45 miles or so from Evansville. from the Evansville *airport* it's a 90 minute or so drive. Owensboro

37 SQ452
: If you live north of I-275 in Cincinnati anyway, Dayton airport is only a few minutes more of a drive, sometimes equidistant or closer than CVG depen